Referee Poite points the way for Jones and Corbisiero to dominate the scrum

Leigh Halfpenny might have been named man of the series but the success of the whole Lions tour hinged on the performance of Alex Corbisiero and Adam Jones at scrum-time on Saturday.

Warren Gatland had a stroke of luck when the medics got Corbisiero fit for the final match. Having Frenchman Romain Poite refereeing also helped the Lions’ cause.

Poite rewards the dominant scrum and the Australians could not cope with Corbisiero or get away with the tactics they employed in the second game in Melbourne. There Craig Joubert’s refereeing of the scrum was abysmal and Graham Rowntree would have pointed this out to Poite in the pre-match meeting. The Australians were pushing before the ball came in and Joubert forced Ben Youngs to put the ball in while the scrum was still on the move.

Too hot: Australia couldn't handle the Lions in the scrum during the third Test

In charge: Romain Poite refereed the third Test

There was none of that nonsense from Poite and the Lions were able to build a platform to dominate the game.

Corbisiero is so strong that whatever position he gets in at the hit he can come back at you. The Australians just could not handle him and Jones is the same. You see a lot of ‘gym monkey’ props around now who are all muscle and no technique — this Lions pair are proper, old-school forwards.

The Englishman’s influence was evident from the first scrum when the Lions won a free-kick. A few phases of play later Corbisiero was in under the posts and the tourists were up and running. If you get on the wrong side of a referee like Poite it is very difficult to get back in his good books and he favoured the Lions’ scrum for the rest of the night — dishing out free-kicks and penalties at the scrum that cost the Wallabies dear.

Ben Alexander had no answers to Corbisiero. He was sin-binned for collapsing and we never saw him again. It was all a bit different a week ago, when he managed to con Joubert.

Gatland really nailed his colours to the mast when he named his team and it didn’t take a genius to work out that the Lions were going to try and overpower the Wallabies. He likes big strong guys taking the ball over the gain line and that is what he got. He made some gutsy calls — although I would still have picked Brian O’Driscoll — and the Lions’ kicking game worked a treat, with Jonathan Davies and Jonny Sexton pinning the Australians back.

Fast start: Alex Corbisiero scored an early try to propel the Lions to victory in Sydney on Saturday

Although I think Tom Croft is the best No 6 in the world, Gatland stuck with what he knows in the back row and was repaid in spades. Toby Faletau’s carrying was immense at No 8, Sean O’Brien has been fantastic all tour and Dan Lydiate did what he always does and spent all night chopping Wallabies down to size.

The Lions had to be very competitive on this tour or questions might have been asked about their future, especially with a trip to New Zealand coming up in four years. Thanks to Corbisiero and Co, the future looks safe.